Movie Review: Triad Election (Election 2)

Triad Election (also known as ‘Election 2’) is part two of director Johnny To’s series of movies tracking the internal political machinations of a Hong Kong Triad gang, the Wo Shing Triad.

There are a number of returning characters from the first movie (see my review here). This time the action centers on Jimmy, a second-tiered triad member vying aggressively for the position of godfather in the current election. He is restrained in his pursuits by the current mob boss, Lok, who wants to hold on to his seat, despite the fact that his two years are up and he isn’t officially eligible for reelection.

This leads to a bloody, cutthroat, do-or-die battle of wills between the two men, carried out in some of the most astonishing set pieces ever constructed for an action opus, including a psychotic interrogation with knives and rabid dogs, a hide-and-seek battle at an outdoor café, and a shocking, ultraviolent denouement. To ads an additional level to the film by turning it into a scathing critique of the voraciousness encouraged by a laissez-faire economic system.